“What we wanted to create are active attendees, the ones that are always hungry for knowledge and always question the existing - so we just gave them enough time for discussion after each speaker and discussion worked out perfectly - simplest ways are most often the best ones!”

With 75 percent of Serbia’s buildings built before 1980, a lot of work on retrofits and energy efficiency remains to be done. But the attendees from around the globe showed how such projects can thrive from collaboration and the sharing of ideas.

Southeastern Europe has more going for it than its people realize, and organizations like Ecoist are among the reasons why.